editorial | Forget diplomacy: Destroy ISIS by any means necessary

With the rise of the marauding gangsters who call themselves the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the world has met the new face of 21st-century terror.

We do not need to see any more beheadings or read of more massacres to affirm that the only solution to this problem is to wipe ISIS off the face of the earth.

This is not about politics. It is xenophobic hatred of the most primitive kind, masquerading as religious zealotry. Muslim leaders around the world have asked that the group not be called “Islamic,” for its actions sully the name of Islam. Through a campaign of mass murder, ISIS has conquered vast Syrian and Iraqi territory, including lucrative oil fields. This has enriched it and allowed it to kill with impunity.

The persecution of Christian and Yazidi minorities in Iraq, as well as the recent beheadings of two American journalists, horrified the world. But the bloodlust of ISIS knows no bounds. The Associated Press reported this week that ISIS killed up to 1,700 captured Iraqi soldiers in June, lining them up in ditches and shooting them en masse.

Sound familiar?

These monsters are the new Einsatzgruppen, those roaming Nazi death squads that crisscrossed Ukraine early in the Holocaust, killing Jews wherever they found them.

Back then the world did nothing. That cannot happen again. The entire civilized world, including the Arab world, must unite to rid us of this scourge.

No one should kid themselves that ISIS members are isolated psychopaths. The group has attracted jihadists from all over the world. It has gained support from regional Sunnis, who see ISIS as their assertive, if bloodthirsty, champion. It will not easily be dislodged.

The United States has already launched airstrikes on ISIS positions. Kurdish Pershmurga forces and some Iraqi army units have retaken towns, dams and other installations. This is a good start.

Now the rest of the world must step in. Highly trained special ops teams can disrupt this enemy. Other options exist as well. One thing is certain: There is no time for diplomacy.

The last two months of fighting between Israel and Hamas reminded us of the high price of war. ISIS has made no secret of its aim to attack Europe, Israel and the United States. And we already know that nothing will stop the group from committing the most unimaginable mayhem to achieve these goals.

The world did nothing to stop Germany until 6 million were murdered. The world did nothing to stop the slaughter of a million in Rwanda. Let us not make the same mistake again. Destroy ISIS now, by any means necessary.

Comments

Posted by Meira Shayna
09/09/2014 at 02:02 AM

ISIS

First, please know that I agree that if all civilized countries don’t eliminate the ISIL and HAMAS, they will continue to have no problem whatsoever in eliminating all of us!!

Second, Hitler murdered over 20 Million people, of which 6 Million were Jews and the sole reason for the existence of Nazis and Hitler was to eliminate JEWS and all who helped them, plus others who got in their way.

I must remember not only the 6 Million - but the other 14 Million, too.